positive thinker // sun worshipper // champagne enthusiast

Weekend Recap: 4th of July Edition

4th of July has been my favorite holiday since forever. When I was a little kid, my whole family used to spend the 4th at my grandparents house cooking out, catching fireflies and watching fireworks from their front lawn. My family would always be in from out of state and I would be so happy to see them. I would also have a lemonade stand every year and would set it up near the sidewalk at my grandparent’s house where lots of people would pass by to get a good spot for the firework show. Needless to say, it was a huge hit. I also think it’s a great opportunity to recognize and appreciate the amazing country that we live in and all the men and women that have sacrificed their time and their lives to make America, in the words of my hero Borat Sagdiyev, greatest country in ahh world!

Now that I’m old enough to add adult beverages into the mix, 4th of July has pretty much become my version of Christmas. It gives me the excuse to day drink, wear a tutu and sing the National Anthem in public so really, what’s not to love? This year I celebrated by going into Chicago twice in one weekend. First to visit friends then to explore Andersonville with my family. Lots of fun and lots of driving.

Friday

I got an early start and left Madison around 9:45 to head to Belvidere to pick up Brock and my USA tutu from my mom’s house. Just the necessities, obviously. We ended up making it to Chicago around 1:30 because we had to stop and visit with our families and also stop at Wal-Mart to buy beer and toys. God Bless America. Once we got to the city, we took an Uber to Rachel’s new apartment so we could see where she was living and drink on her porch. She lives about 2 blocks from Wrigley which is basically my dream come true.

After a few hours we got hungry and headed to a Badger bar in Wrigleyville with a pool/fountain thing outside and little cabanas to eat in. I had the best nachos of my life and we got to participate in a USA chant so I had a ball. From there, we met up with some other friends and headed down to Monroe Harbor to watch the fireworks over the water. That has to be one of my absolute favorite activities of all time. Rachel and I both said that it reminded us of the fireworks we saw while we were in Sydney and it made me really happy and really sad at the same time. We spent some time splashing around in the fountains at Millennium park and then walked around downtown, admiring all the lights and drinking from plastic bags like hobos. But really, my bank account would not be happy with me if I spent $12 per drink while we were out, $14 vodka out of a water bottle is much more my speed. We ended up going to a country bar first, then a tequila bar and ended the night dancing at a little dive bar, which everyone knows is kind of my forte.

Saturday

Saturday I woke up in Chicago, got grumpy because no one would come get a bloody mary with me, and drove home to go to work. Pretty boring in comparison to Friday, but you win some you lose some I guess.

Sunday

Sunday I ventured back to Illinois to visit with my family that was visiting from out of town/state. We went back into the city where my cousin Nick gave us a tour of Andersonville. He works for the Chamber in that neighborhood, so he was basically our own personal tour guide. We went to the Swedish American History Museum, popped into a few local specialty shops and had some ridiculously good pie. My mom and I split key lime and chocolate peanut butter and the woman working told us they go through at least 15 key lime pies a day. I could probably have eaten those 15 by myself, it was delicious. We headed back to Rockford for dinner and a hot tub at the hotel and called it a night.

So now it’s back to a super exciting week of work work and even more work! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday!